Stamp-rack



(No Model.)

D. S. HAINES.

STAMP RAGK.

PatentedFeb. 2, 1897.

E I a I/VVE/VTOR ATTORNEYS.

ATENT FFICE.

STAMP- RACK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,450, dated February 2, 1897.

Application filed February 18, 1896. Serial No. 579,709. (No modelf) To (all 1071/0727, it 'mxtj/ (in/warm:

Be it known that I, DAVID S. HAINES, of Sandy Hill, in the county of \Vashington and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Stamp Rack and Indicator, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a rack adapted to contain postage-stamps to be offered for sale.

The object of this invention is to provide a superior stamp rack or holder of that class in which an apron is oppositely wound over rollers, so that the stamps may be held within the folds or turns of the apron.

The invention will be fully described here inafter, and defined in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of theimproved rack, parts being omitted. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same, parts being broken away; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a pairof rolls, illustrating the manner in which the apron connecting them is wound thereon and the manner in which the stamps are received upon the receiving-roller.

In carrying out the invention a base 10 is provided, upon which a plate 11 is preferably pivoted at its center through the medium of a pivot-pin 12, and uprights 13 and 13 are projected upward from the end portions of the plate 11. Vertical slots 14 are made in the uprights, and in each slot the extremities of two rollers 15 and 16 are loosely mounted, one roller being above the other, and the rollers of each pair are connected by an apron 17, the apron being reversely wound upon the two rollers, being wound to the right upon one roller and in the direction of the left upon the other roller. Ordinarily the lower roller 16 is the receiving-roller and the upper roller the take-up roller, the apron passing from the back of the receiving-roller to the forward face of the take-up roller in an upwardly direction, as is particularly shown in Fig. 4:. In order to wind up the apron, the lower roller 16 is turned in the'direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, and to unwind said apron the upper roller is turned in the direction also indicated by the arrow in Fig: 4'. i

The apron having been wound mainly upon the take-up roller, in which position. it will be when the sheet of stamps 18 is to be taken the apron, and when the stamps are to be fed outward in order that they may be detached fromthe sheet or be rendered visible the upper or take-up roller is turned in a direction to wind upon it the apron from the lower or winding roller, thus feeding the stamps outward and forward. g

Upon the front face of the apron numerals a are printed, commencing with 1 and ending with a numeral which will correspond to the total number of stamps on a sheetone hundred, forexample-and when, as usual, the stampsare arranged in rows of ten the numerals a will be in rows, each row containing ten numerals, and said numerical arrangement will be consecutive. The distance between the rows of numerals will correspond practically to the distance between the top and bottom of the stamps, and when a sheet of stamps has been entirely wound up on the lower or winding roller 16 when the upper or take-up roller is operated to expose one row of stamps the first row of numerals at the top of the rack, as shown in Fig. 1,will appear above the stamps upon the front face of the apron, readingfrom 1 to 10. Therefore if three stamps are removed from that row it will be seen by looking at the rollers carrying that sheet of stamps that the sheet is intact with the exception of three stamps. As the take-up roller is further operated to expose a second line of stamps, as shown in the next t-o-the-top set of rollers in Fig. 1, a second row of numerals ct will appear, and if eighteen stamps, for example, have been taken from the sheet a record of that number of stamps missing will be shown on the apron.

Numerals a, designating the denomina- ICO tions of the stamps, may be and are preferably placed at a convenient point adjacent to the sets of rollers, and also, preferably, the take-up roller is provided with a kn ob or handle 10, for example, at the left-hand end of the rack, while the lower or winding roller has a like knob 19 at the opposite or righthand end of the rack.

In the drawings the rollers are shown in vertically-arranged pairs at front and rear of the rack, and corresponding pairs of rollers are held, practically, in frictional engagement with each other and in proper position in their bearings by a single spring 20, the ends of the spring bearing upon the ends of the uppermost rollers and the central portion of the spring being held depressed by a screw 21 or its equivalent.

It is obvious that when the above-described rack is used in a post-office, for example, for dispensing stamps the postmaster or the attendant at the stamp-window may obtain a correct account of the number of the stamps in the rack, and likewise may accurately determine the number of stamps sold from the rack, and that said account may be made up in. an expeditious and convenient manner. It is furthermore obvious that single or detached stamps, which are a great bother to postmasters when they are in numbers, may be dispensed with under the improved form of rack, and therefore the liability of a shortage by the loss of single stamps or a small number of detached stamps will be obviated to a great extent.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A stamp-rack having a frame provided with two uprights, each formed with two vertical slots horizontally alined with each other, two pairs of rollers extending horizontally across from one upright to the other and having trunnions received within the slots, each slot receiving two trunnions, a spring secured at an intermediate point to each upright, each spring having its ends free and having such ends bearing on the trunnions of the two upper rollers, and an apron oppositely wound over the rollers, substantially as described.

2. A stamp-rack having a frame provided with two uprights, each having two vertical slots horizontally alined with each other, two pairs of rollers extending horizontally from one upright to the other and having their trunnions journaled in the slots, each slot receiving two trunnions, a knob secured to one trunnion of each roller by which the rollers may be turned, a spring for each upright, each spring being secured to the respective uprights at an intermediate point on the spring and the terminals of the springs being free and bearing downwardly upon the trunnions of the upper rollers, and an apron 0ppositely wound over the rollers, substantially as described.

A stamp-rack having a frame provided with two uprights, each formed with two vertical slots, all of the slots being horizontally alined, two pairs of rollers extending horizon tally from one upright to the other and having their trunnions journaled in the slots, two trunnions being received in each slot and the trunnions being projected beyond the respective uprights, two springs respectively secured to the outer sides of theuprights and having their terminals free and respectively bearing on the trunnions of the two upper rollers, and aprons oppositely wound on the rollers, substantially as described.

DAVID S. HAINES.

lVitnesses:

WINIFRED Noon, 1 CHARLES C. OowEN. 

